As church bells pealed and the death toll rose to well over 300, authorities expanded their investigation into reports that locked doors trapped shoppers in a supermarket during a fire, detaining a store manager and a security official.
The arrests Monday brought to four the number of people in custody in connection with Sunday's inferno. The owners, a father and son, were detained for questioning within hours of the disaster. They have strongly denied that doors were locked to prevent theft.
The confirmed death toll stood at 318 Monday, but an independent TV station, Channel 4, said 364 bodies had been recovered, citing unidentified Interior Ministry officials.
Hundreds were injured in the blaze that broke out during lunch hour at a three-story supermarket in a suburb of Asuncion, the capital. Flames quickly filled the Ycua Bolanos supermarket, food court and parking garage, collapsing one floor.
It was the worst disaster in decades in this impoverished South American country. The cause had not yet been determined, but police said an exploding gas canister may have been to blame.
Officials also said they were trying to piece together survivor claims that locked doors might have impeded or slowed weekend shoppers trying to escape.
Attorney General Oscar Latorre appealed to survivors to come forward to describe what happened. Authorities set up a table outside the supermarket -- a pink-and-white building occupying nearly an entire city block -- to question survivors and other witnesses.
"Many witnesses said that security guards had closed the doors," Latorre said.
Juan Pio Paiva, who owns the market with his son, dismissed speculation that the doors had been deliberately locked to prevent looting. He said the building met safety codes and he lamented the deaths.
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